


A Spoonful of Sugar Makes the Medicine Go Down

by Tsuki_Amano



Series: 365 Stucky Shots [38]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Captain America - All Media Types, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Fluff, M/M, Post-Serum Steve Rogers, Protective Bucky, Sick Character, Stubborn Steve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-12
Updated: 2016-11-12
Packaged: 2018-08-30 14:30:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8536768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tsuki_Amano/pseuds/Tsuki_Amano
Summary: It starts off with a sneeze. But Steve brushes aside Bucky's concern because the serum doesn't allow him to get sick. Even when he sneezes all over Tony, he's not sick because he's Captain America and that doesn't happen.Except it does and Captain America has the flu and is miserable and would like to quietly remain in his blanket cocoon if it's all the same to you.In which Steve is a terrible patient, Bucky is going to go grey early, Tony believes in the healing power of socks and Clint needs to get of the vents.





	

It starts off with a sneeze.

Bucky pauses, one hand in the cupboard reaching for the cereal and stares at him. Steve shrugs helplessly, it’s just a sneeze after all. When he sneezes again, Bucky glares at him and tells him to change into clean, dry clothes so he won’t catch a cold.

Predictably, he balks at the suggestion. He always has his breakfast and tea first, then goes for a shower. The serum’s made to prevent him from getting any illnesses. It just must be getting dusty in here, that’s all. For all his efforts, he gets the stink-eye from Bucky who tells him _that he just dusted yesterday_ and maybe Steve’d know that if he had been at home.

But there’s no heat behind his words and Steve drinks his steaming hot tea, ignoring the strange tickle that’s developing in the back of his throat. He goes about his regular day, all the while surreptiously wiping his nose and clearing his throat when he thinks no one’s looking. Mentally congratulating himself for his sneakiness, his dreams are shattered when Tony looks at him surprised and says, “I didn’t know you could get sick.”

Annoyed, he opens his mouth to retort but he’s stopped by a violent sneeze. Tony’s face is a cross between mild disgust and concern.

“I’m not sick.” He says angrily and storms away.

By evening, he’s sniffling over dinner and he’s sort of happy Bucky’s not here to see him. He’d have worried to no end about his health and _fussed_. Bucky’s out with Sam at a ‘boy’s night out’ at some bar they’d found. They’d invited Steve but he’d been tired and his head was throbbing. He avoided wincing when Sam called out loudly to Bucky from the other room, but he knows Bucky’s seen the minute flinch and looks at him concernedly.

“I’m fine,” he says quietly, “It’s just been a long day.”

Sam chooses that minute to walk back in, “Man, can you guys stop being disgustingly cute for one minute?” He looks over at Steve and then frowns, “Hey man, you don’t look so hot. Are you getting sick?”

“I’m not sick!”

The next morning, when Bucky wakes up, he’s surprised to find his lover curled up next to him. Normally by this time he’s already out for his morning run. Stretching, he turns around in bed only to find the taller man swaddled up in a cocoon of blankets. Bucky’s concerned now, Steve ran like a furnace thanks to the serum, he got chilly sure, but never this cold.

Gently, he shakes what he thinks is Steve’s shoulder. When he gets no response, he rolls the lump over and he’s met with a sight he hasn’t seen in almost a century. Watery blue eyes stare back at him and a trembling hand reaches up to wipe at his red nose.

“Bucky, I think I’m sick.”

“No shit pal.”

Somehow, even though Bucky’s brain might figuratively resemble swiss cheese, HYDRA hadn’t managed to wipe the care and maintenance of Steve Rogers from his mind. Of course, he’d forgotten what a little shit his boyfriend was.

“Rogers, so help me if you don’t get back under those covers!” he bellows when he sees Steve start to leave the blanket nest they’ve made on the couch. There’s a flinch and the arm that had slowly emerged is rapidly pulled back underneath. Next to him, Sam looks amused. “Didn’t peg you for an apron wearer.”

Bucky shoots Sam his best glare, which bounces off him like rubber. He’s frazzled to say the least. The moment they’d worked out that Steve was sick, Bucky had marched him off to Tony’s lab, asking JARVIS to call for Bruce. By the time they’d made it down, Steve’s legs trembling all the way and reminding Bucky of a baby giraffe, Bruce was already there, lab equipment set up.

“I thought you weren’t sick Capsicle.”

“I will cough on you.” Steve said miserably.

Looking at Bruce worriedly, Bucky asks, “I thought the serum meant he couldn’t get ill anymore.”

“We don’t know Bucky,” Bruce says kindly, “My best guess is, this a temporary infection. But we’ll take some blood just to be sure.”

When Steve sees the needle, he lets out a soft whimper and buries his head in the crook of Bucky’s neck. “He doesn’t like needles,” Bucky says, holding Steve’s free hand and rubbing his back. It’s a sign of how poorly Steve’s feeling that he lets down his guard enough to be this vulnerable. By the time they’d gotten back to their room, Steve’s gone quiet, except for when he coughed or sneezed. Something in Bucky’s stomach clenched at the sound of his coughing, painful and wet, from deep within his chest. It brought back memories of huddling under thin blankets and holding a body that was too painfully thin. Of clenching fear that each breath would be the last. He remembers calling the doctor fearfully and watching as the doctor’s face became solemn and grave. He remembers the hunger that gnawed at his own stomach because he couldn’t eat, not when the money needed to be used for medicine and food for Steve. And most of all, he remembers the feverish glaze that swept over Steve’s eyes, of how he’d sometimes forget who Bucky was and how he’d double up in pain.

It’s that fear that makes him beg Steve to take it easy for a while and to promise him he’ll rest and take his medicines. It’s easier to make him agree than he expected because Steve’s wheezing by the time they get into their living room.

Sam walks in half an hour later, and finds Bucky wearing an apron, his hair in a bun and a pot of chicken stew on the stove. “You can buy that stuff in a can now.” He says, clapping Bucky on the shoulder.

Irritably, Bucky responds, “It needs to be fresh, he needs all the nutrients he can get.” But any hostility he feels towards Sam goes out the window when he pulls out a bottle of cough syrup, some cold and flu medication, bottles of orange juice and an inhaler. He asks Bucky if he needs any help and Bucky shakes his head. Sam’s about to leave when the door swings open again and he inwardly groans because Tony’s not who he wanted to see.  Granted, he and Tony are friends now, but the man’s too loud for either of them in Steve’s condition. Plus, if he’s come straight from the lab there’s no telling what germs he might be bringing in.

With that thought, he stands in front of Tony, barring the way with his arms crossed.

“What’s with the scowl Sergeant Frosty? Anyway, I come with news. So, we’ve run some scans on the serum and it’s a run of the mill flu that’s been going around. It’s a newer strain than what was present when the serum was created which is why Cap was even affected. The serum’s doing its job and trying to make sure the virus leaves his body as fast as possible. But super recovery time also means enhanced effects. That’s why you’ve got Capsicle turning into a Patriotic Faucet.”

“How long do you think it will take for him to recover?”

“I’d say a couple of days, two at most. Bruce advises avoiding extra exertion. You know what that means,” he says raising his voice, “Bed rest and fluids. I know, _revolutionary_.” He’s met with a pained moan.

Clucking his tongue sympathetically, Tony starts to make his leave before pulling out something from his pocket. Bucky blinks at the pair of fuzzy socks. “Do you know how much heat escapes from your feet? A lot that’s how much!” And Bucky knows in his own weird way, this is how Tony wants to help, so he smiles at him and promises to keep him updated.

Ten minutes later he’s got Steve propped up on the sofa with a glass of orange juice in his hand and he’s back at the stove, stirring the stew. It’s almost done when he hears a thunk from the ceiling. He sighs before grabbing the broom and banging the handle against the vent, satisfied when he hears a squawk from inside.

“We have a door Barton!”

“But that’s not fun!”

“I know ten ways to incapacitate you with a spoon.” He says, semi-seriously.

“Natasha likes me better!” Clint whines from the vent.

Bucky grins, a glint in his eyes, “Not when she finds out who ate the last of her ice cream.”

After that, things are quiet. JARVIS has strict instructions not to allow anyone inside their room without his permission. Steve’s grumpy when he’s ill and he barely touches his soup, claiming he’s not hungry. Coaxing him to take in ‘just one more spoonful’ has Bucky wanting to tear out his hair. But when he’s half way through the bowl, Steve places it down and shyly tells Bucky his throat is too sore for it.

Pressing a kiss to his forehead, he gives him a glass of water to drink and says they’ll try again later. Once the dishes are cleared up, he sponges the sweat off Steve’s forehead and presses a kiss to the heated skin, reaching down to rub circles on his stomach when he starts to hunch up on himself.

He props him up when he begins to wheeze and helps him use his inhaler when he can’t breathe. More than once today, he’s been thankful for the advances made in modern medicine.

By night, Steve’s fever has broken and Bucky’s less likely to strangle someone. When Steve mentions going down for the team dinner, Bucky gets this look in his eye that has Steve quietly marching off to bed. He even takes his medicine without a fuss although it doesn’t stop him from complaining about the taste and almost gagging on the cough syrup. That night, Bucky sleeps fitfully, every cough and troubled breath making him jump awake.

But when the first rays of sunlight break through their curtains and fall on Steve’s face, he lets himself breath a relieved sigh at how peaceful his lover looks.

It’s all worth it, he thinks to himself, tucking a strand of blond hair away from his eyes.

Then he sneezes.

* * *

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**Author's Note:**

> Story time! I was reading this article about Saturn and I accidentally hit myself in the face and sneezed. And that lead to this.
> 
> I regret nothing.


End file.
